HARDENING NEWS Archives

Kuczma to Acquire Single-Chamber Vacuum Furnace

SECO/Warwick Vector Furnace (photo source: SECO/Warwick)

A family-run, commercial heat treating plant in Rzeszów, Poland, Kuczma Hardening Plant, will expand its heat treating capabilities with a new single-chamber vacuum furnace. A particular addition to this furnace is the directional cooling, which will allow the plant to perform quenching from both the sides and the top and bottom in order to precisely adjust the gas cooling system to the batch configuration.

The Vector® vacuum furnace from SECO/WARWICK is equipped with 1.5 bar gas quenching pressure. It will increase the capacity of the Kuczma Hardening Plant and will enable the plant to process parts with dimensions up to 600x600x900 mm. This furnace model specializes in heat treating many types of materials and metal alloys; additionally, its functionality includes gas hardening and tempering, annealing, brazing and degassing.

Kuczma Steel Heat Treat facility (photo source: http://hartownia-kuczma.ugu.pl/?page_id=35)

"Kuczma Hardening Plant," said Jerzy Kuczma, Kuczma Hardening Plant owner, "specializes mostly in vacuum quenching in gas, oil and gas nitriding of injection mould components and dies... On one hand, the SECO/WARWICK furnace will enable us to process larger components and increase our output for smaller ones on the other it will enable directional cooling sideways or top/bottom."

The hardening plant also performs carburizing, quenching, and tempering under protective endothermic atmosphere as well as clean stress relieving under nitrogen atmosphere.

(photo source: http://hartownia-kuczma.ugu.pl/?page_id=35)

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The Workhorses of Industry: High-Strength, Heat-Treated Bolts & Fasteners

December 4, 2018 / FEATURED NEWS, HARDENING NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

Source: Bayou City Bolt

A comparison of minimum tensile strength of heat-treated and non-heat-treated fasteners

One would be hard-pressed to find an industry that isn’t served by high-strength or heat-treated bolts and fasteners. They are required in the automotive, construction, transportation, marine, aerospace, oil & gas, petrochemical, and presses and molds manufacturing fields. In oil & gas and petrochemical manufacturing, for example, high-strength bolts and fasteners are necessary in order to achieve seal closure on flanged joints, fittings, and closures; withstand tensile stresses within the bolts; and provide the strength needed for bolts and pins to withstand forces from high horsepower equipment. You name the industry sector, and the manufacturing process will be just as dependent upon bolts and fasteners to answer the demands of the equipment, the process, and/or the application.

In this overview of the importance of heat treating in fastener and bolt production, Bayou City Bolt provides:

an explanation of the heat treating processes used depending upon the material and the application,
a comparison of the minimum tensile strength of heat-treated and non-heat-treated fasteners (see image to the right),
grade steels best used for heat treating fasteners and bolts,
the case hardening process, and
the proper use of hardened steel fasteners.

An excerpt:

“About 90 percent of fasteners are steel based and the required strength level is usually developed in steel fasteners using quenching and tempering processes. Accordingly, the terms “high strength” with “heat treated” or “hardened” are often equivocated with the fastener world. However, heat treatment includes a wide range of processes. Some heat treatments like annealing soften a metal, while others harden and strengthen.”

The Workhorses of Industry: High-Strength, Heat-Treated Bolts & Fasteners Read More »

Steel Hardening/Heat Treating Firm Relocates, Relaunches Manufacturing

August 30, 2018 / AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT, AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT NEWS, HARDENING NEWS

Source: Sudbury.com

A Canadian steel hardening firm recently relocated its operations to a 54,000-sq ft complex as part of a business relaunch that includes hiring new staff and the startup of active manufacturing.

Northern Heat Treat Ltd , based in Sudbury, Ontario, is in the early stages of full operational capacity since the upgrade and moving of equipment, which will include the purchase of larger heat treating furnaces.

Photo caption: George Sidun Jr. and George Sidun Sr. standing in front of Northern Heat Treat Ltd in Sudbury, Ontario/The delivery of a new furnace.

Photo credit: Sudbury.com

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Hardening and Tempering Line Receives Upgrade

May 15, 2017 / FEATURED NEWS, HARDENING NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES, TEMPERING NEWS

The Ohio-based Engineering Division of Conrad Kacsik Instrument Systems completed a full system upgrade of an automated hardening and tempering line for Nelson Fastening Systems, also located in Ohio. The project involved the removal of the existing control system, VFD drives, limits, and control wiring for Nelson, and included the installation of a new system that features safety controls.

A Honeywell HC900 with a 15-inch operator interface terminal integrated with a computer running Specview HMI software controls a 2-zone hardening furnace, generator, quench tank, water cooling tank, washer, 2-zone tempering furnace, and a blackening unit. The equipment was linked with six conveyors and wired into the four control panels completed by Kacsik’s engineering team.

The old conveyor system had VFD drives that did not communicate with a PLC. The new system was programmed with safety features: in the event of a chain break or a conveyor jam, the system will alarm and automatically shut other conveyors off.

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Analysis of Heat Treat on Carburized Ring Gear and Multivariate Regression Model Development

June 16, 2016 / CARBURIZING NEWS, FEATURED NEWS, HARDENING NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

Source: Thermal Processing for Gear Solutions

Like most other heat treatments, the carburizing and hardening process is known to introduce dimensional changes and gear distortion [4]. If these size and shape changes can be anticipated and controlled, it is possible to eliminate post–heat treatment machining by designing ring gears that would allow for the heat treat change. Such gear manufacturing would significantly reduce cost and machining-to-assembly time, both of which are critical in a commercial environment and large-scale production.

Analysis of Heat Treat on Carburized Ring Gear and Multivariate Regression Model Development Read More »

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